Director-General signs food and agriculture action plan in Yemen

6 February 2013, Sana’a, Yemen ­– FAO and Yemen have signed an action plan for the next two years that gives priority to urgent humanitarian problems caused by political and social instability and a refugee influx from the Horn of Africa.

The plan was signed during a two-day official visit to Yemen by FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.

Under the plan, FAO will also give priority support to economic growth in rural areas, agro-food system efficiency, sustainable water use, aquaculture and fisheries, capacity building, research and food security to achieve political stability. The plan will also work on incentives for reducing cultivation and consumption of qat, a narcotic plant.

Graziano da Silva met President Abd Rabbuh Mansur al-Hadi and government ministers to discuss how a revitalized rural sector could help stablize the country after two years of crisis.